Kingdom Hearts III One-Shot: Lea's Unexpecting Visitor
by comicfan22
Summary: This is a one-shot story of what could happen before Kingdom Hearts III. This story deals with Lea and his past troubles and how an old man's words can help heal.


Kingdom Hearts III One-shot: Lea's Unexpected Visitor

**Disclaimer: The rights of these characters are own by Disney and Square-Enix. **

[Location: The Mysterious Tower]

Our story begins on the top floor of the Mysterious Tower, home to the wise former Keyblade Master Yen Sid. Yen Sid was watching over his two newest apprentices as they were training while pondering about the next move of Master Xehanort. Sora, Donald, and Goofy have already left heading on a new quest to find the 'Key that Restores People's Hearts' while Master Riku and King Mickey were also gone in searching for the King's lost friends.

While he kept pondering, his two apprentices were in training. One of these apprentices was Kairi, one of the 7 Princesses of Heart, while the other one was Lea, the somebody of Axel, one of the former members of Organization XIII. Both of them were learning how to use the Keyblade and to use their natural power within them to help battle back against the increasingly number of Heartless that were starting to plunder new worlds into darkness and to fight against the 13 Seekers of Darkness.

Kairi was wielding her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, a Keyblade that she received by Riku during the time of Xemnas's downfall at The World That Never Was while Lea was wielding his own Keyblade, name is currently unknown, which he summoned up shortly after Riku woke up Sora. Both of them were facing off against Heartless duplicates that Yen Sid has created for them to train with while learning how to use different techniques to defeat them.

Kairi was learning how to use her own natural light to summon up powerful attacks. In her heart, she wanted to go with Sora and see the different worlds, but she knew that in order to travel, she must be skilled enough to beat anything in her path. Lea, already having the power of fire on his side, was skilled with using his Chakrams and harnessing the power of flame, but he still had to learn how to fight with just his Keyblade.

As Lea was training, strange thoughts started to enter into his head. As he kept fighting the Heartless, all he could think of was his friends that have left him: Roxas, his best friend during his time as Axel, and Isa, his childhood friend. Lately, his dreams have been filled with deep sadness for both Roxas and Isa. Sometimes, he would wake up with tears in his eyes. These dreams have been affecting his training. He isn't training with the same passion, the same fire that he use to have and it has been showing as of late.

Yen Sid raises his head up so he could look at both his apprentices as they trained. Then, he called to both of them.

"Kairi, Lea." He said.

When he spoke, Kairi looked over towards him while the Heartless disappeared in white smoke.

"Yes, Master?" She asked.

When Lea heard the voice of Yen Sid, he quickly came back to his senses and looked at him while the Heartless around him also disappear in white smoke.

"Yea?" He said.

"That is enough training for right now. Both of you should get a bit of rest." He said.

"Okay." Kairi said as her Keyblade disappeared in a ray of light.

"Whatever." Lea said as his Keyblade disappeared as well.

Then, Kairi along with Lea started to head towards the door leading out of Master Yen Sid's study. Kairi left the room, but before Lea went out, Yen Sid stopped him.

"Lea, I want you to stay here for a moment." He said.

Lea stopped in his tracks and looked back at him.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Lea." Yen Sid said as he rose from his chair and started to walk towards Lea. "You have been distracted as of yet. You aren't showing the same fire that you had when you first came here. Tell me what troubles you?"

"It's nothing." Lea said as he turned his head to the front.

"It doesn't seem like it's nothing." Yen Sid said. "Over the past few days, your productivity has been declining. If you want to be a Keyblade Wielder, then you must put aside all your fears and your troubles. If you show your weakness against the 13 Seekers of Darkness, then they will exploit it, especially your friend."

When Yen Sid mentioned his name, he snapped his head back towards him.

"HE IS NOT MY FRIEND!" He cried as tears fell down his face. "At least, not anymore."

"Lea." Yen Sid said as he placed his left hand upon Lea's right shoulder. "I think that your friend is still in there, but he may need you to help get him back control."

"Whatever." Lea said as he brush his right shoulder which made Yen Sid's hand move away. "I have no friends to save. I'm out of here."

He raises his arm and opens a corridor of darkness. Then he walks into it and disappears. The portal closes shortly after he enters it.

Yen Sid stood there by himself, with his eyes closed, hoping that he hasn't lost another to the darkness. But what he didn't know was Kairi still behind the door. She was listening to the whole conversation.

[Location: Station Plaza, Twilight Town]

Meanwhile, all was quiet in the town. No Heartless, no Nobodies, no nothing, just quiet and peace. After a few moments, a portal of darkness appeared in the middle of the plaza. Then, Lea emerged from the darkness. The portal closed right behind him.

He looked up at the clock tower, the place where he would spend time after every mission with his good friend Roxas. After a few seconds, he looked down onto the ground and gave out a deep breath and placed his hood over his head to hide his tears and his face from everybody.

"_What good is it to have your heart back when you don't have any friends to share it with?"_ He thought to himself.

He starts to walk away from the station heading for Market Street. After he walked down to the Tram Commons, he walked over to the Ice Cream stand, the same stand that he would get Sea-Salt Ice Cream or himself and Roxas. He walked up to the kind old lady at that stand.

"One please." He said.

"Here you go." The old lady said.

"Thanks." Lea said as he handed her some munny.

Then he walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. He raised up his ice cream towards his face, which was still covered by his hood, and took a small bite of it. Then, he just sat there for a while. In his head, all he could think about is why he could allow both Isa and Roxas to leave him.

"_Why would Isa betray me?_" He thought. "_He promised me that we would stick together while we were in Organization XIII so that we can recover our hearts and go back to the way it was, but he betrayed me."_

Then, his thoughts turned to his new friend, Roxas.

"_I thought that I made a new friend in Roxas, but he betrayed me as well."_

He started to breathe harder, feeling the grief of losing his best friends, tears start falling down from his eyes.

"_Why can't everybody just want to have everything the same? Why does everybody want to go away, leaving me alone?"_

While he was thinking to himself, an old man entered the area. This old man was wearing a gray sweater with an undershirt, silver pants, and brown shoes. His hair was gray on the top with white hair on the sides. He also had a white mustache and dark glasses.

He walked over towards the young man sitting on the bench.

"Excuse me, young man." He said. "Is this seat taken?"

"Huh? Uh, no." Lea said.

"Do you mind if I take a seat here?" The old man asked.

"Sure, knock yourself out." Lea said.

"Okay." The old man said as he sat down next to Lea.

Then, he faced Lea, noticing that the ice cream in his hand was melting.

"It seems that your ice cream is melting in your hands. What's the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Lea said as he took another bite out of his ice cream.

"It doesn't look like nothing." The old man said. "Anybody that lets their ice cream melt in their hand usually has a thing or two on their mind. Tell me what's biting you?"

Lea gave out a deep breath and started to speak.

"Well, you see." He started to say. "All of my friends have left me. I thought I knew them very well but it seemed that I didn't know everything about them."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." The old man said.

"Yea, well, you can't change the past." Lea said.

"But you can change your future." The old man said.

"Huh? Lea said with a question look.

"Everything we do in our lives will change our own futures, for better or worse." The old man said. "I think your problem lies within the fact that you are still holding too much weight upon the past. Everything can't be the same forever, no matter how hard you want it to."

Lea gave out a small sigh. "I don't always live in the past. It's just… I…I just don't know."

"What do you really want the most?" The old man asked.

"I just want my friends back." Lea said with a small tear coming down his right cheek.

"Well, I don't know what your future holds." The old man said. "But as long as you truly believe in the bonds that you have made with your friends, then you will find them again. Are you a true believer in your friends?"

Lea took a few moments to think about the events that have led to this moment.

"I don't know anymore." Lea finally said before rising up from the bench.

"Well I hope that you will find the answer that you are looking for, young man." The old man said.

"I doubt it." Lea said as he starts to walk away, only to be stopped by the old man.

"You will." The old man said as he placed his right hand onto Lea's right shoulder. "Trust me, I have been getting many of my questions answered during my life time. Now, some of them may not be the best answers, answers are answers."

"What to heck does that mean?" Lea asked.

"I don't really know." The old man said. "I read that on a fortune cookie somewhere."

The old man chuckled with Lea joining in the chuckle. He had never met this old man before, but somehow, he was starting to lead him down his own path.

"Well, I have to get going." The old man said. "If I'm too late for dinner, the wife is going to kill me."

"Alright, old-timer." Lea said as the old man turns to leave only to be stopped by Lea.

"By the way, the name's Lea, Got it Memorized?"

"I'm not sure if I will, but hey, at my age, just remembering what I had for breakfast is an accomplishment." The old man chuckled. "But I will keep that name in mind. Also, you can call me Stan."

"Okay, Stan. Hope you get home on time." Lea said.

"I hope so too." Stan said.

Lea turns around and starts walking towards the clock tower while Stan walks in the other direction. While he was walking, Stan felt something in his shirt pocket. He reaches inside and finds an ice cream stick that had a crown on it with the word 'Winner' on it. Somehow, Lea managed to sneak it on him without him knowing it.

"_He's a good kid."_ He thought to himself. _"But maybe somebody should tell him to get a haircut._"

He chuckled to himself as he kept walking towards his home.

Shortly after Lea met this old man, he walked back towards the train station with many questions still wanting to be answered.

"_What did he mean that I keep too much weight in the past_?" He thought to himself. _"I don't always think about the past. All that I want is to be with my friends in the present."_

He kept on walking up the hill heading for the station. But, what he didn't see was a few Dusks teleporting in behind him and trailing him.

When he reached the plaza, he looked up towards the clock tower and gave a small sigh. Then, he went towards the station and went in. A few minutes later, he reemerged on the ledge of the clock tower. He walked to the edge of it and looked out towards the setting sun. Then, he sat down on the edge, like he used to do during his time as Axel.

He just sat there, overlooking the town while the light of the setting sun shined upon him. In his mind, all he could think about was his best friend, Roxas. During his time as Axel, he made a quick friendship with Roxas shortly after Roxas was brought into the Organization. Every day after a mission, both him and Roxas would share Sea-Salt Ice Cream as they would sit there looking at the setting sun.

At first, Roxas was more of a zombie because he was still getting adjusted to being a nobody since his memories as Sora were locked away inside of Sora. But over time, Roxas over time did grow a personality of his own and was more vocal of his problems and his adventures that he went through. Eventually, both of them grew apart to the point that Roxas betrayed the Organization in order to find the answers that he wanted to know. At some point, this also led Axel to betray them as well, following his own path to try and bring back Roxas, but he couldn't find him before his death.

But something else was biting Lea as well. As he sat there, he felt within his heart that something was missing. Over the past few months ever since he was reborn, he has had these dreams, these memories of somebody else. It wasn't Isa, and it wasn't Roxas, it was another person. This person would spend time with both Roxas and himself every day at the clock tower. He couldn't see what this person looked like because that person had their hood up. Sometimes, he would wake up in the middle of the night, trying to think of who this person could be.

As he was thinking to himself, he looked down towards the plaza. Coming out of the train station was Kairi.

"_I wonder why she's doing here?"_ He thought to himself.

As she walks down the steps, she walks to the middle of the plaza. She stops and looks around, looking from something.

"_I wonder where he went off to?"_ She thought to herself.

But before she could walk another step, she heard a sound coming from her left. She looks over to her left and finds nothing. Then, she quickly looks to her right, finding nothing yet again. She turns around, looking towards the front doors, only to find nothing there. Her breathing starts to intensify, as she is still trying to figure out what was making that noise.

"Who's there?" She finally said but with some fear in her voice.

Just then, she felt something grabbing her left arm. She looks over and finds a Dusk holding on to her wrist. She struggles to try and free herself, only to have another Dusk grabbing her other wrist. She keeps struggling, trying to get enough room so she could summon her Keyblade, but the Dusks wouldn't give her enough leverage to break free.

"Let me go!" She said.

But the more she struggled, the tighter their grip became. Then, she heard a voice.

"But they don't want to let you go, Kairi." The voice said.

When she heard the voice, she gasped because the voice sounded familiar.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is of none importance at the moment." The voice said.

Just then, a corridor of darkness opened about 20 feet from where she was. Stepping out of the darkness was a hooded man in a black cloak, the same black cloak the members of Organization XIII wore. The portal closed behind him.

"However, I'm here to grab something for my master. And that something…"

While he was talking, he pulled his hood down, only to reveal that he was Isa, formally known as Saïx, Rank number VII in Organization XIII and Second-in-Command. He had the same look as he did when he was Saïx except the 'X' on his face was a bit smaller and his hair was a bit shorter. He still had his amber eyes, showing that still inside of him is part of Master Xehanort.

"…is you." He finished as he moved his hand though his hair.

Kairi's eyes grew when she saw him.

"You! What do you want from me?" Kairi asked as she still tries to struggle free.

"It's simple: we want the light within your heart. Our goal is to forge the x-Blade and to release Kingdom Hearts from the Darkness where it resides. Then, and only then, these worlds will be torn apart and reborn as they should be: a balance of light and darkness." He said. "Now you can come with us the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice."

Kairi continued to struggle to get free, only to have the Dusks hold her tighter. At this point, she wishes that Sora and Riku were here.

"I'll never go anyway with you!" She cried out.

"Fine, have it your way." Isa said.

Then, he snapped his fingers and four more Dusks along with two Berserkers appeared behind him. Two of the Dusks quickly flew towards Kairi and both of them grabbed her forearms. Then, the four Dusks holding her start to push her towards Isa, while Kairi slides her feet, trying to stop them. Isa steps to the right, letting them past him. But before they past him, they stopped right in front of him.

"We need you Kairi." He said to her in a soft voice. "Your light will help end this conflict and make a new world to live in."

As he was done speaking, a corridor to darkness opens up. The Dusks then continue to push Kairi towards the open corridor. She continues to struggle but to no avail. But before she could enter the corridor, she could feel two of them letting go of her. What she didn't know was the two that let her go actually were defeated by a flying Chakram.

Isa saw the Chakram instantly and his eyes quickly became wide open because he knew whose weapon that was. Then, he started to look around, trying to find the one that threw it.

During the confusion, Kairi managed to free her right arm away from the Dusk holding it and she summoned her Keyblade. Then, she sliced both Dusks and she ran away from the corridor of darkness, which closed. Isa turned around to see that she was free.

"No!" He cried out. He starts to run towards her, but the flying Chakram flew right in front of him and stopped him in his tracks.

Isa quickly turned around and looks up towards the top of the clock tower. Standing up there was who else but Lea: his former friend. The Chakram flies back towards him and he catches it with his left hand while his other Chakram is spinning in his hand.

"Lea!" Isa yelled out.

"Lea!" Kairi said as she is happy to have found the person she was looking for.

Lea looks straight and jumps off the ledge. He falls to the ground but before he lands, he spins both his Chakrams underneath him in order to reduce the impact of his drop. Shortly before reaching the ground, his Chakrams return to both his hands and his feet touch the ground. When his feet touch, a small shockwave of fire come flying from the ground.

"Isa." Lea said.

"Nothing you can say will change our fate." Isa said.

"You and I use to be best friends." Lea said. "We were inseparable."

"Friendships are meant to be broken someday." Isa said. "No friendship can withstand the power of fate."

"That's not true." Lea said. "Friendships will never just die. The bonds between us can withstand even the power of destiny and fate. Al long as we remember each other, then our friendship will always be strong. Got it Memorized?"

"You still believe that you will save everybody you meet?" Isa asked.

"I don't just believe…" Lea said.

During his sentence, the Chakram in his right hand disappeared into fire only to be replaced by his Keyblade.

"…I know." He finished.

Isa's eyes were struck with the sight of Lea holding a Keyblade. But, his fear turned into anger as he summoned his Claymore.

"Different weapon, same fate." He said as the two Berserkers came to his side ready to battle.

Isa leaned backwards and sprang forward with his Claymore in front of him as he charged for Lea. Lea jumped up before Isa swing his weapon. Isa looked up to see Lea falling back down with his Keyblade firmly in hand. Then, Lea swinged his Keyblade at Isa, only for Isa to block it.

Meanwhile, Kairi was using her Keyblade to attack the Dusks that moments ago were trying to get her into the corridor of darkness. She was swinging the Keyblade around trying to copy the Keyblade movements that Sora and Riku showed her. She managed to defeat them but she was dripping down tears of sweat and she was feeling weak. She wasn't used to fighting Nobodies quite yet.

Suddenly, one of the Berserks that was assisting Isa looked over to see a weak Kairi and teleported right to her. Kairi spotted him and gave out a gasp. She tried to fall back but the Berserk followed her until he had her cornered.

Lea, just defeating the other Berserk, looks over and sees Kairi in trouble.

"Kairi!" Lea said. But before he can go and help her, Isa hit him from behind and knocked him down.

Lea tried to get up but four Dusks that have just entered battle got upon him to keep him down. He struggled and struggle to get free, but the Dusk kept him down. He looked up to see the Berserk closing in on Kairi.

"It's a shame Lea." Isa said from behind him. "Your undying commitment of your friends will be not only your downfall, but her's as well."

"Isa, let her go." Lea said.

"I'm afraid that is not an option." Isa said.

Then, he turned to the remaining Berserk.

"If we can't take her as a person, then we will take her light by force. Eliminate her."

"NO!" Lea cried out.

But just before the Berserk could strike, a light started to shine from Kairi. She looked down at her necklace as it shined a powerful light. The light glowed around her, making her feel power.

The Berserk stood back as the Princess of Light got back to her feet. Shortly after she rose up, the light dissipated, but Kairi's expression turned serious.

"I'm tired of being the one in trouble." She said as she brought up her Keyblade. "But now, it's you that will be in trouble."

She took off towards the Berserk and swung her Keyblade right at him. The Berserk held his Claymore sideways to try and defend her attack. The Claymore did stop the Keyblade, but Kairi jumped up into the air and did a flip gracefully. Then, she head back to the ground, but she gave one more swing with her Keyblade. This time, the Claymore couldn't handle the force from the Keyblade and shattered when the Keyblade hit it. The Keyblade sliced though him and when the teeth touched the ground, the Berserk split with each side falling to the ground. When both sides hit the ground, it disappeared.

Kairi looked up towards Isa. Her hair was filling with sweat, starting to cover her eyes but her light blue eyes that were usually filled with hope had deepened in color and were filled with rage and anger.

Isa couldn't believe the power she had.

"_How can this be?"_ He thought. "_How can she gain this kind of power? Maybe…maybe he was right."_

While Isa was distracted along with the Dusks, Lea gave one more push up and broke their hold on him and sliced though all four of them.

Isa heard Lea's attack and quickly turned around to see his former friend free, holding his Keyblade, ready to fight again.

"Looks like you don't have anywhere left to run, Isa." Lea said.

"Who says I was going to run?" Isa said as he grabbed his Claymore.

But before he could strike, he heard a voice from his head.

"_Isa, that's enough. We are done here. Return back to me for further instruction."_

"As you wish, Master." Isa quietly said as a dozen Dusks appeared around Lea and Kairi. "Looks like our time is up, Lea."

Isa disappeared into a corridor of darkness as Lea and Kairi turned their attention to the newly appeared Dusks.

A few moments later, all 12 Dusks were defeated, leaving Kairi and Lea by themselves. Lea looked over towards Kairi. But when he did, for a brief moment, he saw another girl overlapping Kairi. This girl was shorter than she was, had black hair, and was wearing an Organization XIII cloak. She had a Keyblade in her hands that resembled the Kingdom Key which overlapped Kairi's.

Lea gave a shake of his head and the girl faded away. Kairi turned back towards Lea, dripping sweat from her face and panting hard. Her eyes returned from being dark blue to light blue. Both of them allowed their Keyblades to disappear.

"Are you okay, Kairi?" Lea asked.

After a few hard breathes, she gave an answer.

"Yea, I'll alright. But, I don't know what just happened to me."

"I'll tell you what happened." Lea said. "You just kick some major butt."

"Hehehe." Kairi giggled. "Yea, I guess I did."

"Hehe." Lea smirked. "Now, how's about we celebrate by getting some ice cream."

"Sure." Kairi said.

(15 minutes later)

Kairi and Lea were sitting at the top of the clock tower with each one having a bar of Sea-Salt ice cream. While Lea took a bite of his, Kairi just sat there. Lea looked over at her.

"Eat up before it melts." Lea advised.

"Oh, okay." Kairi said.

She took a small bite off the top, not knowing how it would taste. She took a few chews at it and to her surprise, she liked it.

"So, how is it?" Lea asked.

"It taste salty, yet it also tastes sweet." Kairi said.

"Hehe. That is what people usually say when they first take a bit." Lea said.

"Hehe" Kairi giggled as she took another bite.

She turned to the setting sun which overlooked the whole town.

"The sunset's beautiful here." She said.

"I know." Lea answered. "This is where I use to bring Roxas after every one of our missions."

"Oh?" Kairi said as she faced him.

"Yea, we use to spend hours up here talking and eating sea-salt ice cream together."

"Just the two of you?" She asked.

"Yep, just the two of…"

Before he could say another word, the vision of the black haired girl returned. She was sitting right where Kairi was, looking out towards the sitting sun with a half-smile on her face. Lea's mind started to fill with memories of him and Roxas together, but on some of those memories, that girl was with them. Then, he heard another voice. A voice that wasn't Kairi's or Roxas's.

"_Axel? Do you remember our promise?"_

"_Yes, I do."_ He thought as a single tear came down his right check.

"Lea, are you okay?" Kairi asked.

Lea shook his head and wiped the tear away with his sleeve.

"Yea, I'm okay." Lea said. "I just got something in my eye."

"Listen." He said. "I want to apologize for kidnapping you."

"Oh?" She said.

"I didn't really want to take you away. It's just…I…I…"

"You what?"

"I…just wanted to see Roxas again. He was the only one that made me feel like I had a heart."

"Seems like he was truly important to you, huh?"

"Yea. I made a promise to him that no matter how far he went, no matter where he went, I would always be there to bring him back. But, I think I also made that promise with someone else."

"Who? Isa?"

"No, not him. A girl."

"Naminé?"

"No, not her either. I just…can't remember who she is."

"Oh." Kairi said. "Well, I hope that you do."

"Yea, but in all serious, I'm sorry." Lea said.

"It's okay. You did it so you can see Roxas." Kairi said as she faced by to the setting sun.

"Was that my only reason?" Lea said under his breath. "Or did she lead me to her?"

After a few more minutes of sitting at the clock tower, Lea stood up.

"Well, it's getting late. We better head back." Lea said. "Master Yen Sid is probably wondering why we went."

"Yea." Kairi said as she rose back to her feet.

Both of them head for the stairway heading back to the Mysterious Tower. But what both of them didn't see was somebody was watching them from above. The man watching them was Stan: the same man that Lea talked to earlier that day.

"_Maybe the worlds do have hope after all."_ He thought.

"Of course they do." A voice said behind him. "There is always hope."

Stan turned around and saw a spirit appearing before him. The spirit was wearing a regular suit with a few extra belts around his waist and his overcoat was blue and white. In his hand was a Keyblade. This Keyblade's guard was in the shape of a 'D' (the one that Disney uses), the keychain was the shape of a white heart, the staff was light blue with stars blazened upon it, and the teeth had the shape of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World. But the one thing you could notice about him was his face resembled a young Walt Disney. That's because it WAS Walt Disney. It was his spirit as he was the original Keyblade Wielder.

"Hello, brother." Stan said as Walt walked his way.

"Hello, Stan." Walt said.

Both of them looked back to the setting sun.

"The war is about upon us. Do you really think they are ready for what lies ahead?" Stan asked.

"I think they do." Walt said. "As long as they truly believe in what they are fighting for, then maybe, just maybe, our future will be bright."


End file.
